the difference is most other manufacturers don't announce the existence of products until its 100% ready to ship giving them a month to get it to market.
nokia always announce things way earlier than others when phone is in development still ,
so its a choice between openness or not knowing existence until it's ready to hit shops.
the n97 was announced like 7 or 8 months before released, where as the iphone 3GS was announced like 2 weeks before it was in shops.
would you rather not know at all or be part of the ride ?